The Air Force is experiencing higher than expected demand for its recently announced cannabis waiver program.
According to Military.com, the Air Force was only expecting 50 cases per year when it first rolled out the program.
But in the first year of availability, it’s granted 156 waivers to candidates who initially tested positive for THC but who retested and received a negative result.
The Air Force recently missed its recruiting goals by more than 10%, the first time in nearly 25 years the branch had missed its projections.
The cannabis waiver program is in part designed to make it easier for applicants to enlist.
"...Drug usage has absolutely no place in our Air and Space Forces," an Air Force Recruiting Service commander told reporters. "But allowing a second test in the recruiting process is the right thing to do.”
Under previous Air Force rules, applicants who tested positive for THC were not allowed to enlist.
